We put our tree up this week, but since Wally and Theo were busy with their own lives, it was just me and Ward working on it. And mostly just me. What all of this means is that I lacked my usual audience to tell my stories to about each ornament that we have. Remembering where we got everything and sharing that with the rest of the family is a long tradition of mine. Since I didn't get a chance to do that with them this year, I'm going to share a few of our decorations with you. I've done this in previous years on this blog, so if you happen to be "busy" when it's time to read this post just like my family happened to be this year I'll understand.
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| Ward and I got married at Thanksgiving and our friends used Christmas decorations they found in the local store to decorate our car. This bulb was one of several that filled our back seat. Thirty five years later, we have five of those bulbs left. Make that four. I dropped one and broke it this year. :( |
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| The next year when we had our first tree, my aunt sent us a dozen handmade ornaments to help us get started with our collection. This was one of them. |
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| We have several places represented on our tree. WV, of course, where I grew up. |
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| Virginia, where Ward grew up. (That's a state quarter in the middle.) |
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| and Texas, where Wally and Theo spent their early years. |
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A Zulu doll from Ward's cousins in South Africa.
Notice in the background is another doll a friend brought me from Mexico. |
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| The dinosaurs get hung on the tree every year. These were a gift to Wally when he was a toddler. |
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This is a knitted cover over a clear bulb that a friend made for us.
Some day when I get all coordinated, I'm going to try to make some of these. |
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| Every year the leader of our book club gives us something for Christmas. This year it was this reading snowman. I smile every time I see his happy face. |
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| Last year we had a craft party to make these origami stars. Mine didn't quite turn out, so my friend made me several that I have placed around the tree. |
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| This God's Eye was made by my nephew. When he was young, he detested anything that involved fine motor skills. So when he made this for us, I was very touched because I know it took tremendous effort for him. |
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| And the tree wouldn't be complete with the apples we hang around the bottom for the cats. They bat them off the tree and chase them around the floor. The apples act much like ping pong balls and the cats love them. Every day we do a roundup of the apples and put them back on the tree. |
So there's a small sampling of my stories. Thanks for listening.
